An's Different Paths
by Kerrie-chan
Summary: Drabble series written for LJ's 5trueloves challenge. Different pairings [KikumaruAn][SanadaAn][AtobeAn][MizukiAn]
1. Boo!

**#1 Eiji/An – Boo!**

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…!"

Eiji stiffened behind the vending machine where he was hiding, as the Fudomine 2nd year's mischievous (read: evil) voice sounded through the tennis park, even closer to his hiding place. He was dead. Of that much he was sure.

An knew exactly where he was hiding (after all, how many places are there to hide in a tennis park?), but thought it would be that much more fun to torment him some more. He thought she wanted to hurt him for taking the last juice in the other vending machines. It made her giggle; like she was that shallow or vindictive. Well maybe vindictive.

Too bad he didn't realize she wanted him for a completely different reason.

"Eiiiiji-_kun_. Why are you hiding?" She giggled again. She could practically hear his heart beat! He scared so easily.

He could hear her dainty footsteps and it made him cringe. He was in for it. _She knows where I am!_

"Boo."

"Ahh!" Eiji jumped, his violet eyes blinking down into a grinning cerulean gaze. "I'll find you another one! Don't kill me…."

Her teeth flashed. "Eiji-kun," she menaced, lifting a finger and crooking it, motioning him down to her.

He was weary, to be sure, but he did what she practically commanded. He was in terminal danger after all.

In an instant she lifted herself onto her toes and brushed her lips across his, then danced away her laugh twinkling across the grounds.

Red shot over his face as he watched her flutter away. Slowly his expression transformed, and a bright grin shone through his eyes. "Ya-ho!" He crowed, pumping his fist once. "Ne, Annnnnn-_chan_!"


	2. Too Slow

AnGenichirou - #3 Moving – Too Slow

**AnGenichirou - #3 Moving – Too Slow**

"I died again."

An scoffed, snatching the controller away from the tall, black haired boy. "Really, for someone so good at tennis, you suck at fine motor control."

"It's irrational."

"What?" She only frowned, starting a new match. "No it's not, it's perfectly rational. You push the button, the character on the screen moves. It's not that hard."

Genichirou merely watched her. "In order to win you must press certain buttons in certain orders, a certain amount of times. It's stupid."

"Psh," her eyes completely glued to the screen, An didn't see his look of annoyance, or the flash of what could have been guile in his eyes. "They are called combinations, and you don't need them to win. I have a friend that just mashes the buttons really fast and always wins. You're just slow."

He gave her no indication that he was moving, that she could see anyway. It was her fault really, being so consumed with the stupid video game and not paying attention to him. Before An knew it, she was pinned to the floor, the controller hanging limply in her hand. Expressionless, honey brown eyes stared down at her, a black eyebrow raised.

"I am not slow."

She fought a smile and instead tried to look annoyed. "Care to prove me wrong?"

Genichirou moved off of her, letting her up, his face still blank. "I just did."

Now she did smile, but it was a devious smile, one that spoke of trouble for him. "I beg to differ." And she pounced, tackling him from a sitting position to the floor, her arms wound around his neck. She laughed. "See? Slow!"

"There is a difference between slow, and not moving. I chose not too move."

An rolled her eyes, cuddling her cheek into his chest. "Whatever, you're slow."

One of his hands came up and tugged on the edge of her hair, and something akin to a smile touched his lips. He was about to reply when someone cleared their throat, causing the pair to look up.

Tachibana Kippei did not look amused, in fact he looked rather sick. Beside him Kamio Akira looked like his head was going to explode, and Mori Tastunori's eyebrows were above his hairline. "An."

Again An scoffed, waving her hand at the three. "Move along."

Kippei did just that as he led his two friends further into the house, muttering something about inappropriate and little sisters. Kamio continued to huff.

There were some things that a big brother was not supposed to see. His little sister rolling around on the floor with the vice-captain of a team that beat you in middle school was one of them.


	3. How Was She to Know?

Atobe/An #30 Shadow; Light – How was she to know? 

"What the hell is that?" An's eyes squinted in the sun, trying to make out the shadowed figure that was standing beside the tennis court.

"Hey, Tachibana no imotou," Momoshiro called from his side of the court, "What are you looking at?"

An squinted again, the light in her eyes, before puffing up the instant she realized the identity of the spectator. "Nothing," she huffed in her most dismissing tone as she turned her head back to Momo. She, of course, made sure her hair flipped angrily as she did so. "Just a really big, really ugly head."

Momo's expression screwed up as he squinted off to the side. "Eh?"

"Seigaku, scram."

Momo scowled, his hackles' immediately rising. "Atobe!"

Atobe stepped onto the court, his head tilted, his hands in his pockets and his swagger cocky. As he had already dismissed Momo, he no longer paid any attention to him, his focus completely on An. His smirk was easy as he came to a stop in front of her, his eyes reflecting mirth and condescension. "Hello to you too, An-chan."

Her eyes shot daggers up at him. She tapped her tennis racket on her shoulder threateningly. She seriously considered putting his head through the strings. "What do you want?"

"I came to see you, An-chan."

"Oh cram it," An shot back, the need to smash her racket over his entirely too pretty head growing with every passing second. "I'm busy."

His head tilted further, but his expression remained calm and haughty. "You can't stay mad at me forever you know."

"Oh yes I can. You are a cheating asshole." She sniffed a bit righteously. "And I broke up with you."

It was then that his expression broke, not with anger, but with annoyance and something akin to guilt. "As we have been through before _Tachibana_, I did not cheat on you."

She remained defensive, only she found herself unable to look at him. "Whatever, go away." Great. Now she wanted to cry. Asshole.

Atobe sighed impatiently, his arm shooting out and grabbing hers. "You are trying my patience. Why would you believe an irritatingly mouthy brat that you don't even like, over me?"

An paused, her gaze flicking over him before quickly looking away again. He actually had a point. Why had she believed that infuriating Kirihara Akaya? Oh right.

The picture.

"I saw what I saw Atobe-_san_. Pictures, unlike rich brats, don't lie."

"Picture?" Atobe's face screwed up in a frown. "May I see this picture?"

She puffed up again and threw up her hands. "Fine!" She stomped away then, heading towards her tennis bag. "You'll see that just _because_ you go to some fancy school doesn't mean I won't find out."

"What the hell was demon-boy," no one quite got over their middle school days, "Doing at Hyotei?"

An rifled through her bag angrily. After finding her phone she practically tore it out, flipping it open and hitting buttons quickly. "I don't know, but he sent it to me. Proof," she stomped back over and just about shoved the phone in his face.

Atobe squinted, trying to focus on the small screen. Slowly his face transformed from annoyance to amusement mixed with irritation. "You. Are an idiot. A jealous one at that."

Her vision blanked red. "Excuse me?"

He turned the phone around, exposing the picture of a brown haired girl hanging off his arm. His eyebrow arched. "Her name is Michiko," he said, half smiling. "_Atobe_ Michiko."

An blinked. "A…tobe..?"

"My cousin." These words were dry, even as his actions were jerky. "I grew up with her."

As her mistake dawned on her, her skin paled and her eyes widened. "Oh."

He snorted. "Yes, oh." Leaning over her, Atobe's fingers grasped An's chin. "Have you learned your lesson then?"

Her cheeks puffed out and her eyes snapped. "I will apologize for not asking you, but not for being mad over what I assumed. How was I supposed to know that she was your cousin?"

"Ah dear An-chan," reverting to the affectionate, more familiar title was easy and relaxed her some. "Haven't I always told you that your temper would get you into trouble?" And then he kissed her, cutting off any response she had.

When he pulled away he was smirking. "You're forgiven."

"Wha-"

"Come, now. Let's leave Seigaku alone to do whatever losers do alone." He grasped her hand with his, dragging her away.

Momo was left sputtering by himself.


	4. The Way He Feels

Mizuki/An #4 80s Music + #5 Chocolate – The Way He Feels 

"Well that was easy."

Mizuki shook as he fell to his knees, his head bent. He couldn't see the tears that swam in his eyes. Tears he refused to let fall. Couldn't he catch a break?

"Wasn't it Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Now Mizuki was twitching. He hated Atobe Keigo… easily as much as he was creeped out and pissed off by Fuji Syusuke. Both did the things they did deliberately, and both enjoyed seeing their victims squirm and suffer. Neither had changed in the two years since they had moved up to high school.

In retrospect, he had to wonder why he even bothered challenging the rich bastard. He had known he wasn't at the same level as Atobe, though he had gotten significantly better than he had been in junior high. Then he remembered exactly why he had challenged him.

No, Atobe Keigo never changed.

That reason was currently storming onto the court. He could hear her shoes as they rebounded off the rubbery surface of the court. He could practically feel the anger drifting off her in waves. Part of him snickered at the fact that Atobe was now in for it, but another part of him grimaced realizing that he was in for the same thing.

If there was one thing that Tachibana An did not tolerate, it was macho displays of territoriality.

He sighed, letting the depression wash over him. Not only were his tennis skills not up to par, but now his girlfriend was mad at him. His day just kept getting better and better.

"Atobe Keigo!" Tachibana An growled, her eyes narrowed accusingly as she stopped in front of Mizuki, her hands settling on her hips. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Years of dealing with the rich tennis player had given her innumerable skills to deal with him. Direct confrontation always worked the best, as Atobe didn't do subtle. An smirked lightly to herself. Unlike the boy behind her, who tried so hard to be subtle, but failed miserably. Atobe didn't even fathom subtle.

Atobe's smirk grew and he picked himself up off the ground. He sauntered over to the net, his racket resting gently on his shoulder. "An-chan, how nice of you to show up. We were just talking about you."

She rolled her eyes, her foot beginning to tap. Mizuki winced again. Bad sign. "I just bet you were," An sing-songed, staring Atobe down. "And just what were you saying?"

He shrugged, still smirking. "You know, this and that. That miserable excuse for a man behind you had the wrong idea in his ugly head." He met her glare then, his eyebrows rising. "I merely set him straight."

"I'm not stupid Atobe, I know this was about me. And after years of this crap I thought you had finally realized how much I disliked being the prize of your silly little contests of machismo!" As she spoke she walked forward until she was toe to toe with Atobe and the only thing separating them was the net.

Atobe remained cool, his smirk in place and his head tilted casually to the side. "Aren't we self-centered. Not everything is about you, An-chan." Saying that, he flipped some of his bangs out of his eyes and gave her a dispassionate look. "However, for once I can honestly say that I didn't start this farce." He waved his hand in Mizuki's general direction.

An snorted, clearly not impressed. "Start it or not, I know you were behind it and thus place all the blame on you." She tossed her hair, turning her back on him abruptly. "I'm warning you Atobe-san, start something with my boyfriend again and you _will_ regret it."

And with that she left him standing there, his mouth open in retort. Atobe ground his teeth when he realized that she had summarily dismissed him. She was the only female in existence that could do it, that _would_ do it. Perhaps that was why he wanted her.

Scoffing, Atobe turned and walked away, commanding Kabaji to follow. Really, what did she see in that flaming idiot anyway? One day she would realize what the whole world already realized and she would come crying her little blue eyes out right to him. The thought brought the smirk back to Atobe's face. Yes, one day she would realize that Mizuki Hajime was as flamingly gay as one could get.

Mizuki was standing by the time An returned, and was dusting himself off trying in vain to regain whatever shred of dignity he had left that Atobe hadn't stolen. It was a futile effort, he could hear the snickers from the various onlookers and it made his fist clench around his tennis racket.

However, when he looked up at An returning all thoughts of humiliation fled his mind, being instead replaced by a squiggly warmth that made him want to grin. She was smiling at him, that smile that was saved only for him, and her eyes were laughing. She wasn't mad at him, she didn't even look annoyed. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ne Hajime-kun," An said brightly, threading her arm through his as she began to lead him off the court. "Why don't we go back to my house?" She grinned a bit mischievously. "We could listen to American 80s music and fill ourselves with chocolate? That would take our minds off the fact that Atobe is not worth our time hm?"

And that was why he loved her. She knew him so well, his likes and dislikes, and never once did she make fun of him for it. Sure she teased him a bit when he wore his pink or purple shirts, but she always defended him like it didn't bother her that everyone called her boyfriend gay.

Mizuki did his best to hide his smile and instead slanted a haughty look down at her. "Cindy Lauper. And you buy the chocolate. After all, I lost my manhood for you."

This drew a laugh out of her and a squeeze on his arm. "Just this once. Though, I'm sure Atobe would content that you had no manhood to begin with." Her eyes danced wickedly at him even as he began to protest.

She winked at him and stood on her toes (he had grown taller over the years!), bringing him to a stop. "But I know different, don't I, Hajime-kun." With another laugh she kissed him soundly and danced away, giggling as she went.

"If you don't hurry up Hajime-kun, I'm going to make _you_ pay for the chocolate and we'll be listening to New Kids on the Block!"

Ugh. "I would die before I let you win!"


End file.
